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Oil & Gas

Natural gas to be ‘substantial part’ of Singapore’s energy mix for next 50 years

30 October 2019

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Singapore

Fossil fuels will continue to form a “substantial part” of Singapore’s energy mix for the next 50 years, even as it ramps up deployment of solar power and looks at ways to tap regional power grids.

Today, 95 per cent of Singapore’s electricity is generated from natural gas and its dominance in the energy mix will continue for the next half-century, said the country’s Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Singapore International Energy Week 2019, Chan did not specify how much Singapore would depend on natural gas—which emits 50 to 60 per cent less carbon-dioxide than coal when burnt—in future. But the fossil fuel will form one of four “switches” supplying Singapore’s energy needs, he said.

The other three “switches” are solar power, regional power grids, and emerging low-carbon solutions such as hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage.

Solar deployment in Singapore will hit at least 2 gigawatt-peak (GWp) by 2030, up from 0.262GWp in the second quarter of this year. The authorities plan to install more solar panels on rooftops, reservoirs and offshore. The target of 2GWp would make up more than 10 per cent of Singapore’s peak daily electricity demand today.

To support the growth in solar capacity, Singapore will increase its energy storage systems to about 200 megawatts beyond 2025, said Chan. This will address the intermittency of solar and help manage mismatches between electricity supply and demand.

Singapore’s Energy Market Authority said it could tap a regional power grid through bilateral or regional cooperation. Eight cross-border interconnections currently operate in Southeast Asia, most of which trade electricity generated from hydropower. The only multi-lateral grid is one that links Laos, Thailand and Malaysia.

The carbon and energy budget, and role of hydrogen

The energy supply sector is the largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions globally, which scientists have said must sharply decline by 2030 for the world to avert the most disastrous effects of climate change.

Singapore aims to have its emissions peak around 2030, but some have called for city-state to adopt more ambitious climate targets and legislate emissions to peak well before 2030, and reach net-zero by 2050. Chan said on Tuesday that Singapore is disadvantaged when it comes to alternative energy. The country will, however, ensure it reduces and manages energy consumption “in order to balance our budget constraints in terms of carbon and energy”.

Chan highlighted the role of urban design in managing energy demand.

Urban planners can help cut the amount of time and energy spent ferrying people and goods around, and this is something to mull over as Singapore redevelops its industrial and housing estates. And while it is relatively easy to construct new buildings that are zero-carbon, challenges and business opportunities lie in converting existing buildings and previously developed sites into energy-efficient precincts, he said.

On Singapore’s “four switches”, Dr Lucy Craig, risk management and quality assurance company DNV GL’s vice-president and director of technology and innovation (energy), said the growth of solar will be very important for Singapore to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.

“I’d say there’s room for more (solar) deployment,” she told Eco-Business. DNV GL expects solar to supply around 20 per cent of Southeast Asia’s electricity by 2050. While Singapore faces land constraints, solar technology will develop over the next decade to increase the area on buildings and water bodies that can be used for solar power generation, she said.

Many speakers at SIEW 2019 noted the potential of hydrogen as a clean fuel but said it is currently too expensive. In addition, 90 per cent of hydrogen today is produced using fossil fuels, said Francesco La Camera, director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency.

DNV GL, in its Energy Transition Outlook 2019 report, sees hydrogen forming 2 per cent of the world’s energy mix by 2050.

“Certainly, hydrogen has a key role to play in addressing some issues that arise about long-term (energy) storage, particularly in some areas where there may be seasonal gaps in the production of wind, for example,” said Craig. “Right now, it’s not a cost-effective solution but given the level of interest and number of pilot projects, I expect hydrogen will have an increasing role to play in the coming decades.”

Others

Singapore sees world’s first digital exchange platform for airlines to trade carbon credits

30 October 2019

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Singapore

SINGAPORE – A global blockchain-based carbon exchange was launched on Wednesday (Oct 30), offering a marketplace for airlines and other corporate buyers to trade securitised carbon emissions.

The new AirCarbon Exchange, by Singapore-based AirCarbon Pte Ltd, will provide a ready supply of credits, also called EEUs (eligible emission units), for those in the transportation industry to acquire carbon dioxide (CO2) offsets for compliance and voluntary purposes when the list of compliant units is approved.

The carbon credits will be securitised into tokens using blockchain technology, making them highly liquid, fungible and tradable, said AirCarbon on Wednesday.

Each tradable token will be backed by one equivalent tonne of carbon credits.

AirCarbon is applying for the recognised market operator (RMO) licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and aims for the exchange to be fully operational in 2020.

The company also has a fund, the AirCarbon Registration Facility, which provides grants to finance the registration, consulting, issuance and audit fees of CO2-mitigating projects. In exchange for receiving these grants, project developers must commit to list and transact their resulting credits on the AirCarbon Exchange.

The new exchange is a collaboration venture with the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (Seas), and supported by Enterprise Singapore.

Mr Edwin Khew, Seas chairman as well as AirCarbon’s chairman and co-founder, said: “We aim to make the AirCarbon token the easiest and most streamlined instrument for the trading of EEUs globally.”

This will be the world’s first global blockchain-enabled, multi-stakeholder carbon trading hub, representing carbon trades worth more than US$100 billion (S$136 billion), said Mr Khew.

Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon on Wednesday minted the new exchange’s first AirCarbon digital token at its launch during the Asia Clean Energy Summit 2019, which is part of the Singapore International Energy Week 2019 held at Marina Bay Sands.

In setting up the exchange, there had been partnerships and discussions with industry stakeholders which include airlines, green project developers, sustainable technology providers, multilateral institutions, impact investors and regulators, Mr Khew added.

Mr Satvinder Singh, assistant chief executive officer of Enterprise Singapore, noted that international regulations and the increased focus on sustainability will lead to greater demand for carbon offsetting activities globally.

“Enterprise Singapore stands ready to support solutions providers like AirCarbon to grow in Singapore and address the needs of corporates to offset their carbon emissions, starting from the aviation industry,” Mr Singh said.

UK-based First Derivatives designed the front-end trading solution to power the exchange.

AirCarbon also operates the AirCarbon Fund, an investment fund which invests in carbon-mitigating projects such as reforestation, methane capture and carbon emissions reduction. Through these projects, the fund also generates Corsia-compliant tradable carbon offsets, which are then listed on the exchange.

Fintech and financial services group RHT Holdings is an investor in AirCarbon, an RHT spokesman told The Business Times. Chief executive of RHT Holdings Jayaprakash Jagateesan is an AirCarbon board director. He wrote earlier this month that Singapore businesses need to get creative in reducing their carbon footprint and helping to mitigate climate change.

Correction note: An earlier version of this article stated that the carbon credits will be approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) carbon offsetting and reduction scheme for international aviation (Corsia). ICAO has clarified that there are no emission units eligible or approved under Corsia yet as the council has not made a decision on the matter.

Energy Efficiency

New ‘environmentally friendly’ lithium-ion battery recycling facility to open in Singapore

30 October 2019

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Singapore

SINGAPORE: Singapore is set to host a new lithium-ion battery recycling facility.

TES, the largest e-waste recycler in the country, will be opening two such facilities with the other being in France, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon announced on Wednesday (Oct 30).

Speaking at the Asia Clean Energy Summit held at Marina Bay Sands, Dr Koh said: “This is an exciting development as the use of batteries for grid-related energy storage is projected to grow globally, to manage the increasing adoption of intermittent renewable energy such as solar.”

“These recycling facilities will enable a complete closed-loop cycle for lithium-ion batteries, allowing precious metals to be reused again in the manufacture of new batteries for products such as mobile phones and electric vehicles,” he added.

READ: SP Group launches first zero-emission building in Southeast Asia powered by green hydrogen

READ: Singapore sets solar energy target for 2030 that would provide enough power for 350,000 homes

TES is backed by Navis Capital Partners, a private equity company managing over US$6 billion.

The facility in Singapore, known as TES B, is targeted to open in February 2020, said Mr Wu Ge, general manager of strategic projects at TES-AMM Singapore.

He told CNA that the Singapore and France facilities – costing about S$25 million in total – will serve the Asian and European markets respectively, adding that the two regions produce large quantities of scrapped lithium-ion batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries are commonly used in personal mobility devices (PMDs) such as e-scooters, and electronic devices such as handphones, laptops and power banks.

Based on studies conducted by TES, Singapore households will generate about 1000 tonnes of waste batteries of various types by 2021, including lithium-ion batteries, which account for 500 tonnes or 50 per cent of the total, Mr Wu said.

He added that just an estimated 5 per cent of batteries are collected and recycled properly.

With the recycling facility, all used lithium-ion batteries can be properly recycled, he added. “The challenge is to collect them efficiently.”

“Our facility will use 350 kilowatt peak (kWp) solar photovoltaic panels to produce electricity, that alone will reduce CO2 emission by 300 tonnes a year,” he said.

Mr Wu noted that under the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) new e-waste management plans from 2021, batteries will be collected and recycled with increasing targets, and the facility will provide “necessary capacity” to support the new system.

The facilities will employ an innovative recycling process that utilises “proprietary in-house technology and equipment”, said TES in a separate media release on Wednesday.

According to TES, auto punching machines and shredders break end-of-life batteries down into fine substances, magnetic separators recover the copper and aluminium, and a chemical treatment process is used to recover commodity-grade cobalt and lithium.

This process is “environmentally friendly”, said TES, because it does not release secondary contaminants like heavy metals or volatile organic compounds into the atmosphere. The closed-loop process also means that all recovered materials will ultimately be reused in the forward manufacturing supply chain.

TES also announced that they are working with partners to develop energy storage systems (ESS) that will use retired electric vehicle batteries to store electricity for various commercial and residential energy needs.

“Looking ahead, the battery space is potentially facing raw material commodity shortages stemming from the exponential proliferation of Internet of Things devices, electric vehicles, and mobility devices,” said CEO of TES Gary Steele, adding that TES has worked in close partnership with the Economic Development Board (EDB) and National Environment Agency.

As the first facility in Singapore to recover precious metals from batteries using a new hydrometallurgy process, TES B serves domestic needs and enhances the regional value chain for e-waste management, said Mr Damian Chan, assistant managing director of EDB.

“In addition, as electric vehicle adoption and solar deployment scale up in Singapore, TES B and TES’ efforts in second-life ESS will contribute to our battery recycling and energy management ecosystem,” he added.

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/new-environmentally-friendly-lithium-ion-battery-recycling-tes-12046280

Others

Design key to managing demand for sustainable energy supply: Minister

30 October 2019

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Singapore

Even as Singapore moves to green its fuel mix, the country should also see how its energy usage can be managed, said Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing yesterday.

In charting Singapore’s progress towards a future with a sustainable, reliable and affordable supply of energy, managing energy demand was also important, Mr Chan said.

“I think we need to see how we can save on our usage of energy,” he added. Key to this is design, he noted, citing the unnecessary cooling of an entire hall to keep its occupants comfortable.

Said Mr Chan: “If you look at a typical audience hall, we just need to cool 2m up from the ground level to provide thermal comfort to the audience. Much of the cooling for the rest of the building is probably unnecessary.”

The importance of design also applies to the broader scale, he said, from the design of individual buildings to clusters of buildings, industries, and residential areas.

For example, technology can be harnessed to determine exactly how much cooling is needed.

And in Singapore, the direction a building faces could have significant impact on its occupants’ energy consumption, not just because of where the sun rises and sets, but also depending on where the wind is coming from, said Mr Chan.

Singapore to ramp up solar energy production | THE BIG STORY | The Straits Times

“So how we design the precinct to make full use of the natural ventilation to reduce the cooling needs will be both an opportunity and a challenge,” he added.

Singapore also has the opportunity to refresh the entire island’s infrastructure in the next 50 years, he said, unlike other urban cities which grow as an urban sprawl, randomly and organically.

Efficient design could minimise the energy wasted in transporting people and goods across the island, and get rid of the “tidal effects” of traffic patterns, he said.

This essentially refers to the surge of people travelling in one direction to get to work – usually from north to south and east to west in the mornings – and back home in the other.

Said Mr Chan: “But if we can progressively redesign the entire Singapore, we will get rid of this tidal effect, which will lead to a much more efficient use of our transportation system and network, and certainly the amount of energy that we will need for the entire system.”

But even as Singapore continues to explore new technologies, and build new buildings with zero carbon footprints, the challenge would be to find cost-effective ways of retrofitting existing buildings and precincts and make them energy-efficient, he said.

“That is the area where the Energy Market Authority, together with (industrial developer) JTC, are looking at new capabilities to see how we can help existing… sites convert into much more energy-efficient sites.”

Energy-Climate & Environment

Reduce total emissions, not just emissions intensity of GDP

30 October 2019

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Malaysia

EARLIER this month, Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin announced that Malaysia would review its emissions reduction targets at the next United Nations climate change conference in Glasgow next year.

Yeo said Malaysia had achieved a 33 per cent reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) intensity of the gross domestic product (GDP), relative to 2005 levels, putting us within reach of our 2015 Paris Agreement target of a 35 per cent reduction.

All our future targets should be completely decoupled from GDP as what matters most are absolute emissions reduction.

The root cause of climate change is the increasing concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere.

These heat-trapping gases are the prime cause of the steady rise in average surface temperatures and rising temperatures are linked to many of the changes in the Earth’s climate that are projected by scientists to cause severe economic damage both today and well into the future.

One of the ways to solve this issue is by removing GHGs from the atmosphere through geo-engineering.

Cutting current and future GHG emissions significantly will avert uncontrollable rises in surface temperatures on Earth, which will bring about further damage on almost unfathomable scales.

There is an important need to focus more on total emissions reductions and not just on reducing the emission intensity of GDP.

As long as economic growth outstrips the growth of emissions, Malaysia will easily hit targets that do not address the increasing concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere.

With this in mind, it is hoped that Yeo will decouple Malaysia’s emissions reduction goals from the GDP when improving on our pledges in Glasgow next year.

Instead, Malaysia should set a total absolute emissions reduction target, as well as set a date for the peaking of total emissions sometime within the next decade.

In order for this to happen, we need to aggressively deploy clean energy technologies across the country in the coming years, and improve our public transport infrastructure.

The ministry must also seriously consider the implementation of a tax on GHG emissions.

This fundamental measure can strengthen the economic cases for low-carbon technologies across every sector it covers.

In doing so, Malaysia would follow the example of more than 70 jurisdictions globally that have either implemented or have imminent plans to implement carbon pricing schemes and have a purely market-based measure assisting in the achievement of emissions reduction goals.

Renewables

Malaysia is targeting a higher level of renewables in its energy mix by 2025, says its environment minister

30 October 2019

–

Malaysia

Southeast Asian country Malaysia is looking to use a higher percentage of renewables in its energy mix in the next five years, its environment minister said on Tuesday.

Yeo Bee Yin, who is Malaysia’s minister for energy, science, technology, environment and climate change, said the country is targeting to generate 20% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025 — up from 2% currently.

Playing down the possibility of a carbon tax, Yeo suggested that solar energy is a viable option for Malaysia, a tropical country.

“We are a developing country. We want to look into what will be the best solution, as in the best economical solution for us first before looking into taxing … people (more). For example, energy efficiency. Energy efficiency saves your electricity bill as well as decarbonizing. Can we incentivize that?”

For instance, “solar is getting cheaper; can we make it cheaper so that people go into it?” she told CNBC at Singapore International Energy Week.

As the cost of renewables becomes more competitive with fossil fuels, interest in cleaner energy solutions grows.

Neighboring Singapore said on Monday it plans to speed up the use of renewable energy, particularly in solar, the country’s trade and industry minister told CNBC.

Recent pollution issues in Malaysia

Malaysia has witnessed several high profile pollution cases recently including chemical dumping in the south of the country and haze from fires in Indonesia.

There have also been concerns about Malaysia’s August decision to extend a license for Australia’s Lynas Corp for processing rare earth minerals, due to worries about radioactive waste from the production process.

Lynas has said the low-level radioactive waste is not hazardous, Reuters reported.

Yeo told CNBC that Lynas’ license was extended to the company with tougher terms attached and that the Australian company will have to manage their production process and waste disposal to ensure that there will be no radioactive waste in four years.

The Malaysian prime minister’s office had said that not renewing Lynas’ licence would lead to job losses. It would also have a “negative impact on Malaysia’s credibility as a business-friendly country,” Reuters reported.

Yeo also faced calls for resignation over concerns that an Indonesia subsidiary of Malaysia’s IOI Corporation — linked to her husband’s family — is one of the entities that allegedly caused forest fires which spread heavy pollution or haze across the region in September. IOI has refuted the allegations, Malaysian newspaper The Star reported.

When asked by CNBC on whether there is a conflict of interest, Yeo said:

“On the haze problem … Indonesia has full power to investigate and to charge any companies, whether they are Malaysian, Singaporean, Chinese or Indonesian. Any company that is found to be a culprit of starting forest fires — if they think that any companies do that — they can charge them and they have full power. And Malaysia is in the position that they should charge them without fear or favor.”

Coal

Renewable Energy Boom Can’t Dim Coal Outlook in Southeast Asia

30 October 2019

–

ASEAN

There’s just no stopping coal in Southeast Asia. Surging investments in wind and solar energy won’t be enough to shake the fuel’s dominance in the region for decades to come, according to the International Energy Agency.

Coal demand is expected to double to almost 400 million tons a year by 2040, the agency said in its Southeast Asia Energy Outlook published Wednesday. That’s 2.5% higher than its forecast from two years ago, even as renewable power capacity is seen more than tripling through 2040.

“Coal is rather resistant because it is affordable,” said Keisuke Sadamori, IEA’s director for energy markets and security. “It’s really hard for Southeast Asian countries to move away from affordable coal immediately.”

Coal's affordability will keep it in high demand in Southeast Asia, the IEA says

The main reason for coal’s continued importance in the region is expectations for massive overall energy demand growth as populations continue to increase and become wealthier. Even though new renewable energy capacity is forecast to be installed at about twice the rate of coal through 2040, fossil fuels will still represent about 75% of total energy demand in 2040, according to the IEA.

Almost 100 gigawatts of new coal-fired capacity is set to come online in Southeast Asia, mainly in Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. Around 30 gigawatts is already under construction.

Southeast Asia is also home to the world’s largest exporter of coal, Indonesia. While the country’s low cost of production has allowed it to boost exports, a growing share of output will increasingly serve rising domestic demand. It will be overtaken by Russia in terms of export volumes by 2040, IEA said.

The outlook can change if governments adopt more renewable-friendly policies, Sadamori said. For a start, approved solar and wind projects are outpacing coal this year for the first time ever, which suggests an inflection point for the region.

“We are seeing some positive signs,” Sadamori said. “We hope it’s not a blip.”

Coal

Southeast Asia may become net fossil fuel importer in coming years: IEA

30 October 2019

–

ASEAN

SINGAPORE: Southeast Asia could become a net importer of fossil fuels in the next few years, raising the financial burden on governments and increasing carbon emissions in the region, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned in a report.

This comes despite expectations of slower growth in the region’s energy demand as economies shift towards less energy-intensive manufacturing and services, and greater efficiency, the agency said in its annual Southeast Asia outlook.

READ: Southern Asia urged to wind down coal to keep warming in check

Southeast Asia was already a net oil importer at 4 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2018, while strong growth in demand for natural gas has reduced the surplus of gas for export, the world’s energy watchdog said.

For coal, output from the region’s top producer, Indonesia, remained well above 400 million tonnes of coal equivalent last year but increases in domestic demand and exports to China and India could reduce its surplus, the IEA said.

“These trends point to Southeast Asia becoming a net importer of fossil fuels in the next few years,” the agency said.

The region’s overall surplus of supply over demand at 120 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe) in 2011 had been eroded to just above 30 mtoe in 2018, it said.

Growing reliance on imports also raises concerns about energy security, the IEA said. For example, the region’s overall dependence on oil imports is forecast to exceed 80 per cent in 2040, up from 65 per cent today.

With no change in policy, Southeast Asia’s energy demand is expected to grow by 60 per cent by 2040, accounting for 12 per cent of the rise in global energy use as its economy more than doubles, the IEA said. This was slower than the region’s 80 per cent growth since 2000.

Southeast Asia’s growth in electricity demand, at an average of 6 per cent per year, has been among the fastest in the world, the IEA said. Still, some 45 million people there still lack access to electricity. The region is well on the way to achieving universal access to electricity by 2030, it added.

Oil demand in Southeast Asia, home to nearly 10 per cent of the world’s population, would surpass 9 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2040, up from just above 6.5 million bpd now, the IEA said.

“Oil continues to dominate road transport demand, despite an increase in consumption of biofuels,” the IEA said.

“Electrification of mobility, with the partial exception of two and three wheelers, makes only limited inroads. This pathway suggests little change in Southeast Asia from today’s congested roads and poor urban air quality.”

Demand for coal is also projected to rise steadily over the coming decades, largely fuelled by new coal-fired power plants, despite headwinds facing such projects that include increasing difficulty to secure competitive financing for new facilities.

The IEA said the region’s increasing reliance on imports of natural gas made the fuel less price-competitive though it appeared to be a good fit for the fast-growing cities and lighter industries in the region.

“In our projections, it is industrial consumers rather than power plants that are the largest source of growth in gas demand,” the IEA added.

Renewable energy is set to play a larger role, but without stronger policy frameworks the share of renewables in power generation would rise only to 30 per cent by 2040, from the current 24 per cent, the IEA said.

Wind and solar energy are expected to grow rapidly, while hydropower and modern bioenergy – including biofuels, biomass, biogas and bioenergy derived from other waste products – would remain the mainstays of Southeast Asia’s renewables portfolio.

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/fossil-fuel-southeast-asia-importer-12046080

News Clipping

The carbon and energy budget, and role of hydrogen

READ: SP Group launches first zero-emission building in Southeast Asia powered by green hydrogen

READ: Singapore sets solar energy target for 2030 that would provide enough power for 350,000 homes

Recent pollution issues in Malaysia

READ: Southern Asia urged to wind down coal to keep warming in check

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